


The Death of Doctor Donna

by KethriHolmes



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-23 23:25:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1583231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KethriHolmes/pseuds/KethriHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donna Noble, on her deathbed, gets a visit from an old friend, even though she doesn't remember him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Death of Doctor Donna

The Doctor looked back at the Earth, which he had just saved. Again. He was smiling and waving at the wonderful humans who had been brave enough to help him save their world. He closed the door, still smiling, but as soon as he was alone, he leaned against the console heavily with a sigh. Because he couldn't leave Earth quite yet. There was still one thing he had to do because of a message he had received earlier on the telephone. He had played it off in front of them, but the whole time he was working, it weighed heavily on his heart. And now there was something important, something very, very important that he had to do.

He started buzzing around the console, flipping the Tardis into action. But instead of traveling through both time and space, it was only space he was worried about. Still on Earth, too, Cheswick. There was a hospital there, and an old friend.

“I’m looking for a woman, Donna Noble?” He asked the nurse.

She looked up at him. “Visiting hours are over…” She said slowly.

“Please, it’s important.”

She searched through her records. “I suppose it’s okay,” she said. “But only because you came in the nick of time. But I suppose you knew that. She’s in room 424.”

The Doctor nodded, trying to look casual, but as soon as he rounded the corner, he took off, dodging doctors and nurses and patients. Many times he was told to slow down, but he couldn't slow down, couldn't stop. Not now.

However, when he came to room 424, he paused, just for a moment, his hand on the doorknob. Through the small window, he could see an old woman, wrinkled and frail, and he didn't know if he could face that. But he couldn't let it end this way. So he opened the door and stepped into the room.

For a moment, he just stood at the foot of her bed, watching like a guardian angel. He pictured her as she was before, bright red hair and fiery attitude to match. Those were wonderful days, the two of them running around in his big blue box. She had been his conscious, reminding him always of why he loved humans so much, reminding him to be compassionate. They were a brilliant team. But all that ended suddenly when the Earth was stolen from the sky and plopped down into a Dalek scheme. In the end, the Earth was saved, as well as many other planets, but the cost, for him, was Donna. He had to put her back on Earth with no memories of him or any of the adventures they’d had together. Oh, the adventures, so many adventures. But in the end, she was left behind and he had to travel onward, all alone.

The picture in front of him was so sad compared to his memories. It seemed like all the fire and energy had gone out of her. But that was growing old, he supposed. Then her green eyes opened. The light had all but disappeared from them.

“Get out of my room before I call a doctor and have you thrown out,” she said. The Doctor smiled. He should have realized that none of her spunk would have been gone just because she got a little older.

“Oh, Donna,” he said affectionately, coming over to the side of her bed.

“Do I know you?” She asked quizzically.

“More than you know.” He rested his fingertips on her temples. “I’m going to do something, Donna Noble, and you can’t be afraid.” He let a connection open between his mind and hers, unlocking all those latent memories. Everything about him, and the Tardis, and their travels together. The Ood and the Daleks and the DoctorDonna. And about how important she was, the most important woman in all of history.

When he pulled away, he saw a look of recognition in her eyes. “Doctor? Is that really you?”

“Yes, it’s me. Of course it’s me.”

She sighed and closed her eyes. “I hope you weren't lonely, without me,” she said softly. And then, “Thank you, Doctor. For coming here. For letting me remember. For everything.” She looked so peaceful, even though he knew that her mind had to be burning up. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

“I should be the one thanking you,” he said quietly before kissing her on the forehead. “Sleep well, Donna Noble. You deserve it.” Beside him, the heart monitor flat lined. Tears welled up in his eyes as he stepped back, letting doctors and nurses rush in to try and keep her alive for just one more minute. In the chaos, he slipped away, simply disappearing as he always did. As he walked down the hallway, he passed a man with deep red hair running past him towards her room. Then he walked out of the hospital, stepped into the Tardis, and headed back out into time and space, wiping his eyes and moving forward, always forward, never looking back…


End file.
